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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28427238">Clint's Big Secret</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/pherryt/pseuds/pherryt'>pherryt</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>New Bucky Barnes Bingo [17]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>ALL THE FLUFF, Blink and you'll miss it, Clint can cook, Cooking, First Kiss, Fluff, Food, JARVIS is a good bro, M/M, Tiny bit of Angst, Tooth Rotting Fluff, accidental date, bucky is gone on clint, nerds</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 19:28:09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,535</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28427238</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/pherryt/pseuds/pherryt</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Bucky can't believe that's what Clint is eating right now. What. The Fuck. How does Clint look like <em>this</em> when he eats like <em>that?</em></p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>James "Bucky" Barnes/Clint Barton, Winterhawk</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>New Bucky Barnes Bingo [17]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1686778</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>127</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Bucky Barnes Bingo 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Clint's Big Secret</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Square  B4 - Nerds</p>
<p>I started something else COMPLETELY different a few days ago and kept poking at it on my days off and hated it. I was starting to think this square was cursed. then i went to work and my brain came up with a completely different idea and i'm supposed to be IN BED RIGHT NOW CAUSE I HAVE TO GET UP EARLY AND MY HUSBAND JUST WOKE UP AND IS NOW YELLING AT ME TO GO TO BED ALREADY!</p>
<p>ooops....</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Seriously.” Bucky intoned flatly.</p>
<p>Clint beamed at him. “What’s wrong, Barnes?”</p>
<p>“A box of Nerds and a milkshake do not a meal make,” Bucky said, trying very hard not to roll his eyes.</p>
<p>“Well,” Clint said, sprawling across the couch in the common area with the aforementioned items clutched to himself, one in each hand. Bucky’s eyebrow twitched. “It does if you’re not too picky.”</p>
<p>Bucky pinched the bridge of his nose. “How you don’t have scurvy, I’ll never know.” He sighed. “You can’t <em>eat </em>like that,” he continued. “It’s not possible for <em>anyone</em> to eat like that and look like you do. But I swear on my mama’s grave, that since I’ve come to the tower, you’ve eaten nothing but junk unless someone’s twisting your arm.”</p>
<p>“Awww… you’ve been paying attention to little ol’ me, Barnes?” Clint said, fluttering his pretty little eyelashes at Bucky. His stomach swooped. No. Focus. “I feel special.”</p>
<p>“Don’t,” Bucky growled. “I watched <em>everyone </em>when I got here.”</p>
<p>“<em>And </em>you think I look good, huh?” Clint went on, completely ignoring Bucky’s statement. He flexed his arm and his biceps popped and Bucky’s eyes nearly fell out of his sockets.</p>
<p>Clint’s grin grew wicked and Bucky knew he was in trouble.</p>
<p>The biceps flexed again, both arms this time, drawing his eyes and Bucky almost whimpered. He held it back, somehow, but was unable to stop the flush growing hot over his cheeks.</p>
<p>Even <em>more </em>trouble.</p>
<p>“For someone who eats the way you do,” Bucky tried to clarify. It was weak, the growl softening to something more plaintive because he was, as always, weak against Clint’s boyish charm and panty dropping grins and those <em>fucking arms</em>.</p>
<p>Jesus, Clint should be illegal.</p>
<p>“Let you in on a little secret, Barnes,” Clint said, suddenly at Bucky’s side and leaning in conspiratorially. “I only eat like that where Tony can see me ‘cause it drives him nuts.”</p>
<p>He sucked at the straw of his milkshake, his cheeks hollowing with the effort and Bucky had to forcibly shove aside some very, <em>very </em>dirty thoughts.</p>
<p>“Why don’t you come over for dinner tonight? I can show you how well I really eat,” Clint suggested.</p>
<p>Bucky stared at Clint with narrowed, suspicious eyes.</p>
<p>“No, really,” Clint protested. “I promise, you won’t be disappointed.”</p>
<p>Wondering if he was going to regret this – heart, stomach or both - Bucky agreed.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Turned out, Clint could cook. Like, okay, maybe not anything fancy. Certainly not like some of those places Tony ordered from on the regular, but what Clint made was <em>good </em>and it definitely wasn’t <em>junk. </em></p>
<p>When Bucky got to Clint’s place, it smelled heavenly. The kitchen was a disaster but it was, somehow, an ordered chaos of a disaster. Clint’s face lit up when Bucky arrived and Bucky didn’t want to admit that the sight did things to him, but it did. He just wouldn’t admit it out loud.</p>
<p>“You came!” Clint said, sounding equal parts happy and surprised.</p>
<p>“You pretty much challenged me to come,” Bucky pointed out.</p>
<p>Clint’s forehead scrunched up. “No, I didn’t. I invited you.”</p>
<p>Bucky thought it over, then decided it didn’t matter. He was here now. “So what <em>are </em>you making?”</p>
<p>“Oh!” Clint brightened again, leading him into the kitchen and pointing at pots and pans as he went. “A few different things. I know you got a super soldier metabolism, so I wanted to make sure I had plenty on hand. So there’s ribs in the crockpot, potato soup on the stove, homemade bread already on the table, still warm, and some baked potatoes just about ready to go. Also, there’s baked beans and potato salad. Oh! And we’ve got deviled eggs and stuffed mushrooms, too.”</p>
<p>Shifting, Clint reached up into a cabinet, pulling out a few plates and a couple of bowls, handing one of each to Bucky. “Go ahead and dig in.”</p>
<p>Amazed, Bucky followed Clint through the kitchen, filling his bowl with the soup and the plate with a little bit of everything else. He eyed it all critically, but everything looked just as good as his nose said it was.</p>
<p>Before long they’d settled at the counter in Clint’s kitchen, which Clint apparently considered a table and, well, it did the job well enough so Bucky supposed that counted. Clint tried to hide it, but Bucky could see him anxiously peeking over to gauge Bucky’s reaction to the food and so Bucky decided not to waste any time.</p>
<p>He started with the soup, which was pretty thick, and had it finished before he even registered taking a second spoonful. Mopping up the bits of soup clinging to his bowl with the freshly baked bread, Bucky said, “S’good.”</p>
<p>“Yeah?” Clint asked, sounding a little breathless.</p>
<p>“Yeah,” Bucky agreed. From there, he moved on to the rest of the food, each bite proving to be just as delicious as the last. A few times, Bucky had been unable to hold back the happy little moans Clint’s tasty food was prompting, but instead of teasing, Clint only flushed happily.</p>
<p>For the most part, the meal was spent in an enjoyable silence, Clint tucking into the food almost as much as Bucky did, with Clint encouraging him to go back for more, if he was hungry. Which Bucky gladly did.</p>
<p>At last, they relaxed in their seats, their empty dishes scattered in front of them, as they digested the meal.</p>
<p>“That was real good, Barton,” Bucky said quietly. “Where’d you learn to cook like that?”</p>
<p>Clint shrugged. “Little bit here, little bit there. I was pretty young when mom died, but I remembered a few of the meals she used to make us. When I got older, when I was missin’ her, I’d try to make ‘em.  ‘Course, I didn’t know what the fuck I was doing, and we had to make do when we were in the circus, but Barney would eat it and swear it tasted just like mom used to make. Some of the others helped me figure things out, showed me the basics and it turned out, I liked cooking. When I started working for SHIELD, I had disposable income for the first time ever, and free time, so I took some classes and refined what I knew.”</p>
<p>Flashing him a crooked smile, Clint said, “Only Phil and Nat knew I could cook, and when I came here, I decided to keep up the ruse. I mean, it wasn’t that much of a hardship. I wasn’t in a good place when the team first came together and cooking felt like too much effort. A lot of things felt like too much effort, if I’m to be honest,” Clint admitted quietly.</p>
<p>And oh, Bucky could understand that. He bumped his knee into Clint and Clint looked at him and smiled at him, something softer this time, something that made Bucky warm all over. “The team was worried about me, but none of us knew each other, right? So nobody knew how to help, except Nat, and Nat’s version of helping doesn’t usually look like helping to anyone who doesn’t know us, y’know?”</p>
<p>Bucky nodded, because he <em>did </em>know.</p>
<p>“And pushing me to eat at all – much less eat healthy - well, it made Tony and Cap feel good, like they were helping me, so I let them. And one day, things started getting easier, till eventually I felt like cooking again. Among other things. And JARVIS kept my secret, cause he’s the man,” Clint said, calling up to the ceiling.</p>
<p>“Of course, Agent Barton,” JARVIS replied.</p>
<p>Bucky chuckled, shaking his head. “You’re something else, Barton,” Bucky said, thinking about how even when Clint was low, he still thought of others. The fact that he let Tony and Steve take care of him the only way they knew how, and to continue to perpetuate that just to let them feel good about themselves…</p>
<p>“Well, so are you,” Clint said, nudging at Bucky. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed how you’ve gone and turned into a den mother on us all. I thought Steve was bad, but he ain’t got nothin’ on you.”</p>
<p>“Where do you think I learned it from?” Bucky asked dryly. “I got plenty of practice on Steve. That stubborn punk would have starved to death or gotten his ass beaten in if it weren’t for me.”</p>
<p>Clint barked out a laugh. “I believe it,” he said, standing up and stretching. “Okay, you ready for dessert?”</p>
<p>Bucky had to blink a few times and drag his eyes up off the strip of revealed flesh Clint hadn’t seemed to notice was showing. He swallowed. “Uh, dessert, sure, doll. Think I got a little more room for that.”</p>
<p>“Great. You want tea or coffee to go with?” Clint started picking up discarded plates and bowls and Bucky hurriedly stood to help, stacking them neatly into the sink for later.</p>
<p>“Well, that depends,” Bucky drawled. “What is it going with?”</p>
<p>Laughing, Clint pulled a foil wrapped plate from a corner of the kitchen. “Sour cream pound cake. Which, okay, maybe not the <em>healthiest </em>thing we could be eating, but <em>damn </em>is it good.” He looked up, his eyes twinkling. “And we’re allowed to treat ourselves once in a while.”</p>
<p>“Tea, I think,” Bucky said at last.</p>
<p>“Got ya,” Clint said, giving Bucky double finger guns before checking the water level in the kettle and setting the water on to boil. He pulled down a couple of mugs, a sugar bowl and several different boxes of loose tea. Bucky picked out an Earl Grey, more out of nostalgia for the smell then any preference he could really remember, and Clint set everything up. Bucky poured the water when it was ready, Clint asking JARVIS to time the steeping as he cut generous slices of the pound cake for him and Bucky.</p>
<p>This time, they retreated to the couch in Clint’s living room, tucking their feet under themselves as they relaxed into the cushions. The couch didn’t look like much – it certainly didn’t look like it belonged anywhere near Tony – but it was comfortable.</p>
<p>The cake nearly melted in Bucky’s mouth and he moaned around the first bite. Clint smirked at him in a very self-satisfied manner and Bucky reached over to flick his arm.</p>
<p>“Hey, is that any way to treat the man that cooked and fed you?” Clint gasped out in mock offense.</p>
<p>Bucky rolled his eyes in good natured amusement. “You’re right, doll. That was very uncouth of me. What payment would you like instead?”</p>
<p>Clint’s smile suddenly turned nervous and his fork fiddled with the last bites of his cake. His eyes flicked up at Bucky, then down at his plate. He licked his lips. Bucky resolutely did <em>not </em>look at Clint’s tongue. Or his lips.</p>
<p>(He absolutely did. Dammit).</p>
<p>“Would a kiss be too steep a price?” Clint suddenly blurted out.</p>
<p>Bucky froze in the act of bringing his mug to his own lips, surprised by the question. As much as he’d wanted… he’d never thought to <em>imagine </em>that Clint could want right back. He blinked at Clint. Clint who had finally looked up at him, their eyes meeting, Clint’s blue eyes gone wide with trepidation and hope. A hope that was steadily losing out to resignation the longer Bucky took to say anything.</p>
<p>Hurriedly, Bucky put the tea down, the mug clattering on the coffee table and the tea sloshing over the rim in his haste. He reached for Clint as Clint started to turn away, a mask slipping into place and –</p>
<p>No. <em>Oh</em> no. That would not do.</p>
<p>“Let me give you a kiss then, and I’ll let you know,” Bucky said softly, pitching the words <em>just </em>high enough Clint could still hear them.</p>
<p>Clint’s head whipped back to face Bucky, his mouth dropping in astonishment, before the corners of his lips started curling up in delight. Bucky leaned forward and Clint leaned with him and then their heads bumped together and they laughed lightly before trying again. Bucky’s hand crept up to cup the back of Clint’s neck, his head tilted and he nosed forward till their lips met in a soft caress. Clint let out a sigh against Bucky’s lips and he moved in again, another soft, slow kiss. The kind of kiss Bucky had always dreamed of givin’ and never had the chance.</p>
<p>The kiss slowly deepened, a light, gentle thing with parted lips and subtle sweeps of tongue and Bucky felt Clint clutching at him, his grip strong on both Bucky’s arms.</p>
<p>At last, Bucky drew back and touched their heads together, his other hand coming up to rub a thumb over Clint’s lips.</p>
<p>“Not too steep a price after all,” Bucky said, smiling at Clint fondly.</p>
<p>“Think I might owe you some change,” Clint said dazedly, a flush high on his cheeks, his freckles taunting Bucky to kiss each one of them.</p>
<p>“Hmm… there’s only one way to even things out,” Bucky said, pretending to think.</p>
<p>“Oh?” Clint’s word was a small puff of air on Bucky’s lips. It made it him itch to push forward capture Clint’s lips again.</p>
<p>“Yeah, doll,” Bucky said, his heart pounding now. A kiss was one thing, but this next could be pushing it. “Cause this here, seemed an awful lot like a date, now that I think on it, and I’ve been sweet on you a while.”</p>
<p>“Why, James Barnes,” Clint said, his eyes and nose crinkling with hopeful amusement. “Are you asking to go steady with me?”</p>
<p>Bucky blushed but he managed a “Yeah,” in response and Clint’s face somehow both softened and brightened at the same time, just before his hands reached for Bucky’s face and pulled him in to their deepest kiss yet, short and quick and teasing.</p>
<p>Clint pulled away, and his grin was the biggest Bucky had ever seen.</p>
<p>“Then, <em>fuck </em>yeah!”</p>
<p>They dissolved into giggles, interspersed with more kissing, their tea growing cold as they cuddled on the couch. It was a long, long time later that Clint bolted upright and Bucky sat up quickly, looking at Clint in alarm.</p>
<p>“Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,” Clint babbled, staring at Bucky in horrified embarrassment. “Now that we’re beaus or whatever, does that mean Steve’s gonna give me the <em>shovel </em>talk?”</p>
<p>“He can try,” Bucky said, the alarm draining away as he drew Clint back down into his arms. For his part, Clint went easily, though his eyes were still a little wild. “But if he opens his mouth, all you need is one word to shut him up.”</p>
<p>“What’s that?” Clint snuggled in, turning his head to peer up at Bucky curiously.</p>
<p>“Fondue,” Bucky said smugly, sending up a little prayer of thanks to Peggy Carter for <em>that </em>little tidbit.</p>
<p>Steve would <em>never </em>live it down, if Bucky had anything to say about it. It was the perfect blackmail material.</p>
<p>“Don’t you worry ‘bout a thing, doll,” Bucky said to Clint. By unspoken agreement, the tv flicked on, a blanket was dragged off the back of the couch and draped over them and the two of them fell asleep in each other’s arms while watching Dog Cops and trading giggling kisses.</p>
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